Bitcoin's real history, told by someone who followed every day of its biggest trials
Bitcoin Keynote Speaker and Bitcoin History Speaker
Most Bitcoin talks are price predictions wearing a blazer. Mine are about what actually happened: who built what, who fought whom, and what the record says when you go back and read it.
I'm Kurt Wuckert Jr., CoinGeek's Chief Bitcoin Historian since November 2020, and a researcher of Bitcoin's complex origins since 2013. I have been in Bitcoin since 2012, I founded a mining pool, I host mining infrastructure for clients, I run a protocol development company, and since 2017 I have been hosting a weekly livestream where the audience asks the questions in real time and does not let me get away with anything. Good training for a Q&A.
If you are booking a speaker for a conference, a corporate offsite or a room full of people who have never touched a wallet, the promise is the same: they walk out knowing something true they did not know walking in, and they will have laughed at least twice. (I count.)
Talks
The Written History of Bitcoin, in One Hour. I write this history in footnoted installments of 5,000 to 22,000 words each, and this talk compresses the whole thing to one hour with the receipts still attached. The audience gets the cypherpunks, the forum wars, the forks and the courtrooms in order, which is more than most of the industry can say.
What the Courtrooms Taught Us About Satoshi. I sat through Kleiman v. Wright in Miami and Granath v. Wright in Oslo, and attended every session of COPA v. Wright, the London trial, remotely through accredited media access. This talk walks through what the evidence showed, what the judges decided, and what is still genuinely open, so the room can make up its own mind.
Block Size Was Never About Block Size. The Bitcoin Civil War was less an argument over a number in the code and more a fight over who gets to change the rules, and that fight decides what Bitcoin is for.
Mining, Energy, and the Math Nobody Checks. I founded GorillaPool in 2021, so I talk about mining from the operator's side of the spreadsheet. The talk covers what a miner earns, what the power really costs, and why the loudest energy takes on both sides skip the math.
Bitcoin as Data Infrastructure for AI. Machines are only as good as the record they learn from, and that record is getting cheaper to fake every month. This talk makes the case for a public, timestamped ledger as the provenance layer AI will end up needing, whether the industry likes the branding or not.
Formats
Keynote, fireside chat, panel, moderated debate, or me moderating somebody else's panel: I can do all of them, and the moderator's chair is the one I sat in every week on the livestream. Remote works, and so does in person; I am based in Delray Beach, Florida, and I travel.
I am as comfortable in an intimate room as in a large auditorium, and I have spoken to national audiences through Fox Business.
Stages and screens
The full list of appearances, with video, lives on the media page.
On the other side of the microphone, I have interviewed Peter Schiff, Tim Draper, Ben McKenzie, Scott Galloway and Mike Hearn.
On stage, I have spoken at CoinGeek conferences, the Blockchain Futurist Conference and the London Blockchain Conference.
Booking
The inquiry form asks three questions:
- What is the event, and what is the date?
- Who is the audience, and what format do you want?
- What should the room walk out knowing?
That third question matters most, because a good answer tells me which talk fits, or whether we should build a new one for you.
FAQ
What do you speak about?
Bitcoin's history, mostly, because that is where the good stories are. That includes the cypherpunk origins, the Satoshi identity question, the Bitcoin Civil War over block size, the courtroom fights, mining economics, and where Bitcoin fits as data infrastructure for AI. Every talk is built from the Written History of Bitcoin series and my own reporting, so the audience gets sources, not slogans.
Do you do virtual keynotes?
Yes, and after hosting a weekly livestream since 2017, a camera and a remote audience do not scare me. Virtual keynotes, recorded sessions and live Q&A over video all work. If your event is hybrid, I can be on the screen in the room while the online audience asks questions in the chat, which usually gets the sharper questions anyway.
Do you speak to non-crypto audiences?
Yes, and those rooms can be the best ones. The history of Bitcoin is a story about money, technology, lawsuits and very stubborn people, and none of that requires owning a coin to enjoy. I explain the technical parts with plain English and real examples, and nobody needs a wallet installed by the end. Business, legal and general audiences all work.
Will you debate?
Gladly! I have debated Peter McCormack and Paul Sztorc on the record. A good debate gives the audience both sides at full strength and lets them decide, and all I ask for is a fair moderator and equal time.
How far in advance should we book?
Earlier is better, especially for in-person events that need travel. Thirty days of notice is appreciated for international events, and fifteen days works for American appearances. If your date is close, send the inquiry anyway, because sometimes the calendar cooperates, and a short answer about availability costs you nothing but a few minutes and a form.
What is your fee?
It depends on the format, the travel and whether the talk is custom-built for your event. Fees are negotiable and depend on the venue and the context. Send the three answers in the booking form and I will reply with a clear number.
Book a talk
Got a room that needs the real history of Bitcoin? Send the three answers, and let's find the right talk!
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